Blogs & Videos: CT Scanning

Being a curator at a natural history museum can include many different areas of work, from doing research and studying collections, to field work and training future scientists. Dr. Ken Angielczyk, an associate curator and paleobiologist at The Field Museum, shares some of the unique aspects of his work. Read more about Ask A Curator: Q&A With Paleobiologist Ken Angielczyk

After cleaning, the first part of Minirdis’ burial equipment that we treated was his coffin. The coffin was constructed of wood panels joined with wood dowels. A layer of an orange colored plaster like material had been applied over the wood to fill gaps between the wood panels and provide a smooth surface. On top of the plaster layer, the coffin had been painted black with red and yellow decoration. Read more about Through thick and thin! Stabilizing the Plaster on Minirdis’ Coffin

Contrary to the image of mummies portrayed by the popular Scooby-Doo cartoon, mummies are not monsters, capable of smashing through walls; in fact, most mummies are too fragile even to stand on end. Egyptian mummies are embalmed lying on their back, and so fit easily into a medical CT scanner, which looks a bit like a spaceship with a table for the patient that slides through a hole in the middle of the machine. Peruvian mummies are a different story, though, since they were buried crouching – the larger examples won’t fit through the hole. Read more about Mummies and Cheetahs, in 3D!

A sequence showing the CT scan of a new fossil pteridosperm ovule (Stephanospermum braidwoodensis FMNH P30420) from Mazon Creek in Illinois as described by Alan Spencer, Jason Hilton and Mark Sutton in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. Read more about Stephanospermum braidwoodensis: CT scan

Using state of the art technology, Anthropologists from The Field Museum had the opportunity to examine Egyptian mummies for the first time. Check out the amazing images that they produced using a portable medical CT scanner. These mummies have been part of the Museum collections for many years and thanks to proper conservation methods, researchers are now able to work with them without causing any damage. Read more about Video: Gilded Lady, The Mummy

J. P. Brown is the Regenstein Conservator for Pacific Anthropology at The Field Museum and his job is to maintain and preserve the objects housed in our Anthropology collections. In this case, JP is using CT Scan technology to understand how the figure of a seated man from the Pacific island of Malekula (Republic of Vanuatu) was constructed. By revealing the different layers that make this fascinating handcraft, JP will be able to make decisions on how to store it properly so future generations can also enjoy it and keep preserving it. Read more about Video: Conserving Sticky

This past week, we got a glimpse inside some of The Field Museum’s mummies and a few other artifacts. Because we can’t physically unwrap the mummies without damaging them, we used a CT scanner to make three dimensional x-ray images of the objects. Using software, we can then take a look at the 3D image to see what’s inside. Inside we found grave goods such as a pot filled with what appears to be grain or residue from an evaporated liquid and what could be a necklace in addition to human remains, of course. Although in one case, we found no remains where we expected to see a full skeleton. Read more about 18 July 2011 - CT Scanning